Abstract: A precise measurement of the cross section for the process e(+)e(-) -> K+K-(gamma) from threshold to an energy of 5 GeV is obtained with the initial-state radiation (ISR) method using 232 fb(-1) of data collected with the BABAR detector at e(+)e(-) center-of-mass energies near 10.6 GeV. The measurement uses the effective ISR luminosity determined from the e(+)e(-) -> mu(+)mu(-)(gamma)gamma(ISR) process with the same data set. The corresponding lowest-order contribution to the hadronic vacuum polarization term in the muon magnetic anomaly is found to be a(mu)(KK,LO) = (22.93 +/- 0.18(stat) +/- 0.22(syst)) x 10(-10). The charged kaon form factor is extracted and compared to previous results. Its magnitude at large energy significantly exceeds the asymptotic QCD prediction, while the measured slope is consistent with the prediction.

Abstract: Inclusive production cross sections of pi(+/-), K-+/- and p/(p) over bar per hadronic e(+)e(-) annihilation event are measured at a center-of-mass energy of 10.54 GeV, using a relatively small sample of very high quality data from the BABAR experiment at the PEP-II B-factory at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory. The drift chamber and Cherenkov detector provide clean samples of identified pi(+/-), K-+/-, and p/(p) over bar over a wide range of momenta. Since the center-of-mass energy is below the threshold to produce a B (B) over bar pair, with B a bottom-quark meson, these data represent a pure e(+)e(-) -> q (q) over bar sample with four quark flavors, and are used to test QCD predictions and hadronization models. Combined with measurements at other energies, in particular at the Z(0) resonance, they also provide precise constraints on the scaling properties of the hadronization process over a wide energy range.

Abstract: Many scenarios of physics beyond the standard model predict the existence of new gauge singlets, which might be substantially lighter than the weak scale. The experimental constraints on additional scalars with masses in the MeV to GeV range could be significantly weakened if they interact predominantly with leptons rather than quarks. At an e(+) e(-) collider, such a leptophilic scalar (phi(L)) would be produced predominantly through radiation from a tau lepton. We report herein a search for e(+) e(- )-> tau(+) tau(-)phi(L), phi(L)-> l(+) l(-) (l = e, mu) using data collected by the BABAR experiment at SLAC. No significant signal is observed, and we set limits on the phi(L) coupling to leptons in the range 0.04 < m phi(L) < 7.0 GeV. These bounds significantly improve upon the current constraints, excluding almost entirely the parameter space favored by the observed discrepancy in the muon anomalous magnetic moment below 4 GeV at 90% confidence level.